MISS UNIVERSE RATINGS FLAT WITH LAST YEAR

Ratings for the 2010 Miss Universe competition were virtually flat with last year’s, averaging 6.0 million viewers. However, while the 2009 contest dominated the evening and produced NBC’s highest ratings for any non-sports program since May, this year it was beaten by CBS’s slate of reruns and, in its first hour, by ABC’s Bachelor Pad. Nevertheless, CBS, NBC, and ABC waged a close race for the night, with CBS averaging 6.62 million viewers, NBC, 5.80 million, and ABC, 5.32 million. Fox ranked fourth with 4.17 million. All of the broadcast networks faced competition from ESPN’s Monday Night Football preseason game between the Arizona Cardinals and the Tennessee Titans. Ratings for the game were not immediately available.